Tech Tip: Privacy protections and the internet
There has been a lot of talk recently about Internet Privacy. The other Washington is moving to change online privacy protections and this Washington is moving to protect them at the state level. No matter what the outcome, this is a good reminder that we should all take some basic precautions to safeguard our privacy while surfing the web.
Check your ISPs Privacy Policy
Your ISP is your Internet Service Provider (AKA Comcast, AT&T or Verizon). Every ISP has a policy which governs what they will do with your personal information. This is known as their “Privacy Policy”.
The best defense is to understand the privacy policy of your ISP. Most ISPs are taking this opportunity to review and reaffirm their Privacy Policies. Get a copy of yours and review it, be familiar with what your ISP will and will not do with your personal information. Keep in mind that this policy may change at any time and at the discretion of the ISP. You can find the privacy policy on the website or get information by calling the customer service line.
Get a paid virtual private network (VPN)
A good step would be to subscribe to a paid VPN (virtual private network) service.
VPN is like an encrypted tunnel between you and the internet. You link straight to your VPN (your ISP will see the connection), then all internet browsing is directed through VPN’s servers and blocks third parties from snooping.
Some free ones collect your data and sell it to third parties for analytics or use ads to support its free service. (This negate the whole purpose of this process we’re talking about now). The point is to keep your data private, and as with most things you get what you pay for. The typical cost should be around $40 to $60 per year.
There are many VPN’s to choose from, but you may want to choose a VPN which pledges not to log your traffic. Good VPN Services also use their own Domain Name System (DNS) Servers, and/or offer DNS leak protection.
The Domain Name System is how your computer translates a human readable website name, such as google.com into machine-friendly Numerical Internet Protocol (IP) address – 216.58.216.174.
We do not recommend any particular VPN, but you can review this PC Magazine article and evaluate the best one for you. Note: some streaming services like Netflix may not work with all VPN’s.
Utilize HTTPS websites
On other thing, you may want to do is connect to HTTPS Versions of sites whenever possible. The HTTPS Connection is encrypted, which means that you ISP does not know what you do on the site, only that you connected to it.
Never provide personal information to a site that does not have HTTPS at the beginning of the URL or website address.
Hope this helps!
KCIT
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Test of KCInform employee alert system, April 25
Earlier this year, King County launched a new employee emergency alert system called “KCInform”. This system, powered by CodeRED, allows us to reach you by phone, text, and email with timely information in an emergency or natural disaster.
Your safety is our priority, whether you are at work or home, so having updated personal contact information (work cell phone and home phone, email, and/or cell phone) is critical for reaching you wherever you are.
In January you were emailed a personal profile link to enter your information into KCInform. Many of you registered – thank you! Now we plan to test the system’s notification process and give you an opportunity to see how emergency messages will look and sound when received by phone, text, and/or email.
A test of KCInform is scheduled for the afternoon of April 25.
Depending on the information you provided, you will receive a test message from CodeRED (the service provider for KCInform) on @kingcounty.gov email, County-issued desk or cell phones, and personal phones and email accounts if you added them to KCInform. The April 25 message is just a test.
If you have questions about KCInform, or haven’t yet registered personal contact or work cell information, please contact kcinform@kingcounty.gov or 206-296-3830 (between 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday) for assistance.
Thank you for your participation in this important system test.
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Corrections Officer couple achieves Gold one step at a time
King County Corrections Officers Sonya and Randy Weaver, on the 12-story King County Courthouse stairwell they climb each morning before their court detail shifts begin.
Two King County corrections officers earned Gold in this year’s Healthy Incentives program, and they did it one step at a time up 12 flights of stairs each morning.
Sonya and Randy Weaver are both corrections officers assigned to court detail with the County’s Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention. They have been with DAJD for 19 and 20 years, respectively, and have been a married couple for 10 of those years. Each work day morning, the couple climbs the 12-story stairwell of the King County Courthouse before their shift begins, and continue to opt for stairs whenever they can throughout the day.
“Basically, if we are not escorting a detainee, we will take the stairs,” said Sonya. “Our philosophy is, if we don’t have an inmate with us and it’s just us going from point A to point B, if there are stairs available, that’s how we’ll get there. We’ll take the tunnel and we’ll get our butts up those stairs!”
Each achieved Gold early on in this year’s Healthy Incentives Text for Well-Being personal action plan by texting their activity “anytime from anywhere” three or more times per week for six weeks, allowing each the opportunity to save $500 on their deductible for the next year.
But the rewards don’t end there. “I am not going to lie to you, I do not love doing the stairs,” added Sonya. “Every day I say, ‘oh crap, I have to do this again?’ That’s just the way it is. But we need to be in shape because we need to be able to provide meaningful response to our coworkers if something were to happen.” “Also, we’ve had power outages in the Courthouse,” said Randy. “If you have an inmate, and you need to go from bottom to top, you need to be in better shape than that inmate.”
“Randy and Sonya show us how incorporating one healthy habit into our daily routing can have a great impact,” says Employee Health and Well-Being Manager Karleen Sakumoto. “Find a partner and identify a specific goal or activity. It’s not going to be all fun, but keep it up!”
In addition to keeping fit for their duties, Sonya also wanted to manage the inherent workplace stress that comes with being a corrections officer, and Randy wanted to lose a little weight. Along the way, Sonya lost 20 pounds this year and, while his weight hasn’t changed yet, Randy’s belt has tightened two notches! Being in shape goes a long way toward staying healthy in a field that is demanding of one’s back and joints, especially considering that the belt and vest each officer wears adds another 25 pounds.
The couple has been involved with Healthy Incentives since the program launched. Randy even had the opportunity to attend the National Labor Conference in Chicago with a few other King County employees 10 years ago. “Our County was the first to roll out this type of program,” added Randy, “and we were invited to talk about it as part of a Healthy Incentives panel discussion.”
King County Corrections Officer Randy Weaver receives his 20-year Service Award from King County Executive Dow Constantine, DAJD Director William Hayes, and King County Councilmembers April 17, 2017.
This year, in addition to keeping each other inspired, they’ve inspired two of their court detail colleagues to take to the stairs. You don’t have to do the stairs to earn Gold with Healthy Incentives, but Sonya’s and Randy’s determination and achievements with their individual action plans are definitely admirable.
Text for Well-Being, the action plan Sonya and Randy employed, is only one of eight different individual action plan options. Most of the action plans need to be completed by the end of July and involve six or more weeks of reporting, so don’t wait too long to sign up.
You can reach out to Benefits, Payroll and Retirement Operations at 206-684-1556 or by email to ask any Healthy Incentives questions. For more information, visit the County’s Healthy Incentives web site and the Healthy Incentives blog.
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From the Hip: Caroline Whalen, Director of Executive Services
Employee engagement is job #1
When Dow Constantine and Fred Jarrett asked me to serve as director of the Department of Executive Services (DES) seven years ago, I frankly was overwhelmed. How could I move out of operations and project management to lead the diverse set of agencies that make up DES? I told them, “I’m the person you put in a black suit and throw out of the helicopter with a specific mission, not the person in the planning room overseeing the operation.” But, they had confidence in me to make the transition — so I took the leap of faith.
Back then, I thought I had to “know it all” to lead 10 different lines of business delivered by eight divisions and offices with nearly 1,000 employees. What I’ve learned over the years is that knowing it all isn’t my job at all. My real role is to bring together the very best people, provide them with a clear vision, harness their energy and ideas, ask lots of questions, supply the resources they need for success, and then stay out of their way!
Essentially, my job is to do whatever I can to engage employees and bring out their best work.
Why do I focus so much on engagement? Because the research supporting our annual employee survey shows that the most engaged workers are those who feel respected by their supervisors and peers, who enjoy their jobs, and who want to make the organization better every day. The ultimate expression of engagement would be for us to sincerely say: “Thank goodness it’s Monday!” I don’t yet hear that phrase echoing down the halls on Monday mornings — we all have bad days at work on occasion — but overall I do love my job and look forward to being with my county family. I also understand the importance of balance and having quality time away from work to recharge my batteries.
I’ve also learned that a big part of being engaged is feeling respected. At our DES All Hands Meeting in March, we asked everyone to give us one word that describes what they need to be engaged. The clear number one response was respect.
Respect has been our department’s number one workplace value for the last four years. And, based on our Employee Survey results, this focus seems to be working. In the 2015 survey 71% of DES employees ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’ that they are treated with respect in the workplace and in 2016, 77% reported a positive response. We plan to keep the focus on respect until we get to 100%.
I feel fortunate to lead a team that is Delivering Excellent Service, striving to improve every day. By being engaged in our work, we’re making a difference. The last seven years haven’t always been easy, but they have been rewarding. I’m glad that I was brave enough back in 2010 to accept the challenge and the opportunity to serve in this role. We’re on a journey in DES, and I look forward to continuing our shared pursuit of making King County a great place to work and live.
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Auburn Public Health employees discuss ideas, challenges with Budget Director
Dwight Dively, Director of Performance, Strategy and Budget, visited the Auburn Public Health Center on Monday, April 17, to talk with employees about the services they provide and what King County can do to help them serve their clients better.
Staff took Dively on a tour of the facility to showcase some of the services they deliver – such as Family Planning for teens and adults, and WIC nutrition plus maternity support for pregnant women and families. They discussed their work and raised issues they are encountering.
“I really appreciate Dwight making time to come out and see the great work we do here to serve our community at our South King County Public Health Centers,” Karen Russell, Area Manager for Public Health, said. “Staff were able to engage in a discussion on topics that are important to them.”
The tour was followed by a question and answer session with employees. One of the key issues raised was providing ongoing, sustainable funding for the Public Health Centers. Dively spoke about some of the actions the County is taking to try to ensure stable, long-term funding for Public Health, including working with the state on additional dedicated funding.
Employees also asked about the way that funding is distributed in the Public Health budget, how employees can become more engaged in the budget process, and discussed a Lean process to reduce missed appointments by patients.
“It was great to visit the Auburn Public Health Center and learn about the wide array of services they provide our clients. The staff is very dedicated to their work and it was great to hear about the challenges they’re experiencing and their ideas for doing it better,” Dively said. “I learned a lot about our programs, including ways to meet the needs of a diverse clientele and services we provide at satellite clinics and directly in the community.”
In 2014, many Public Health staff and labor partners worked at the grassroots level to help save public health clinics that were proposed for closure due to lack of funding. Executive Constantine created a partnership of funders – including cities, businesses and the Muckleshoot Tribe – to keep the clinic in Auburn open while the County works with the Legislature to create a sustainable funding source.
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Exciting news from the Facilities Management Division: New Customer Care Services
On April 3, the Facilities Management Division (FMD) went live with the new Customer Care Services to provide a single point of contact for service requests for all FMD Lines of Business. Customer Care Services will ensure the request is responded to by the appropriate FMD representative and will be able to provide updates on projects or outstanding items.
Employees are encouraged to contact FMD Customer Care Services at 206-477-9400 or Customercareservices.fmd@kingcounty.gov for assistance with changes to a workplace, maintenance requests, additional space needs, keys and a work authorization or order. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. More information about this new service can be found here.
Please note, employees are still to call the Security Emergency Dispatch Center for security emergencies at 206-296-5000.
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Kudos to Hizkiel Chibssa for outstanding work performance
Sergeant Peter Boehme, with the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, recently shared this memo in praise of employee Hizkiel Chibssa, with Maintenance and Supply, King County Correctional Facility.Share this:
Social Media Spotlight: KCIT on LinkedIn
King County Information Technology is on LinkedIn and is a great resource for job opportunities, training opportunities, and technology news and information.
Follow KCIT on LinkedIn today!
Click here to view all King County social media pages.
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Featured Job: Project Program Manager II – Forester
Learn more about this position or view all available jobs.
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Meet a “do-it-all” nurse, with a special passion for social justice
Crossposted from Public Health Insider
Tina Maestas, Public Health Nurse, as photographed by one of her clients at the Renton CSO.
Last week for National Public Health Week (April 3-7), the Public Health Insider featured unsung public health heroes who make our communities safer and healthier. Each day, they highlighted a public health worker through their own words, sharing their work and why they’re committed to serving our community.
Tina Maestas, who serves as a Public Health Nurse based in Renton, is one of seven Public Health Nurses whose office is located inside a “CSO” – a state office where people can apply for assistance with cash, food, child support, disability, and other services.
The CSO nurse’s office is strategically located so that people who come to enroll in state programs find one-stop-shopping, where they also can easily get pregnancy tests, STD tests, birth control, referrals to medical and dental care, and more.
Read more on the Public Health Insider blog.
Employee News 